The present invention relates to an absorbent member for use in absorbent articles such as disposable diapers or sanitary napkins, and further relates to a method of manufacturing such an absorbent member.
Heretofore, absorbent bodies have been widely used, which include a liquid permeable sheet such as a tissue paper for covering an absorbent core comprising fluff pulp or a mixture of fluff pulp and superabsorbent polymer. Since the fluff pulp is of fine fibers and the superabsorbent polymer is of powders or fine particles, they are usually preformed into a core of desired shape before they are covered with a tissue paper and the like to facilitate handling thereof in the course of manufacturing processes of the above-mentioned articles and also to prevent fiber flocks and particles from leaking off the articles during use thereof. For example, Japanese Kokai (unexamined) Patent No. Sho 51-103545 teaches a general matter on such a covering technique.
In general, despite that absorbent bodies are covered with a tissue paper, the absorbent bodies tend to lose their shapes as they absorb liquids which cause entanglement of pulp fibers to come loose and the tissue paper to break. This provides discomfort to users during use and difficulties of handling thereof after use. One measure to avoid such inconveniences is to improve a wet strength of the absorbent body. For instance, Japanese Kokai (unexamined) Patent No. Sho 57-82504 proposes to prevent an absorbent body from losing its shape by covering an absorbent core comprising fluff pulp with a reticulated sheet formed of synthetic resin to form an absorbent body and thereafter securing the reticulated sheet to an inwardly facing surface of a backsheet of an article. U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,579 discloses a technique which covers fluff pulp with a reticulated sheet such as a woven fabric or a non-woven fabric of coarse meshes to form an absorbent body having improved the tensile strength. This technique also serves to prevent the absorbent body from losing its shape.